


To Sail Aboard The Rose Once More Would Be A Fine Thing Indeed

by spaceboyharry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, Forbidden Love, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Historical Inaccuracy, M/M, Memories, Older Harry, Pirates, Prisoner Louis, Sad and Happy, Self-Indulgent, early 1900s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 20:53:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14941214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceboyharry/pseuds/spaceboyharry
Summary: Because I'm a sad hoe.





	To Sail Aboard The Rose Once More Would Be A Fine Thing Indeed

**Author's Note:**

> Because I'm a sad hoe.

“Grandpa, will you tell us a story?” It was mid-July, and my grandchildren were crowded around my chair, eyes heavy with sleep. It was late in the evening, and they had had a large day hiking the trails surrounding the home. I smiled and stood, scooping up my granddaughter with protesting joints and beckoning the two boys to follow. I sat Ophelia down onto her bed and took a seat in the room’s chair as James and Kyle climbed into their respective bunks. 

 

“Make it a good one, Grandpa,” Ophelia said imperatively, wrapping her blanket around her shoulders and laying down, only her eyes showing from her cocoon. “Only the best for you.” My eyes closed as I leaned back in his chair, smiling slightly. I could almost smell the sea salt in the air, and the gulls crying were as loud as they had been 60 years ago. 

 

As I began my tale, I slipped back into where I had been then, brash and bold and fearless. “It was deep in the summer, much like it is now. The air was heavy with humidity and sweat shone on the skin of everyone the sun touched. It was around 1820, and I had just gotten myself a ship.” “A boat? Like the one I got to ride in the pond?” James interrupted, chin perched on the rail of his upper bunk. “Nope. A ship. A pirate ship. I named it The Rose, and I got myself a crew. There was Liam, and Niall, and Ed, and who could forget Nick, my gunner. The finest group of men I’ve ever had the pleasure of being with. We sailed all over the place. I went to Portugal and Italy and Ireland. I’ve been everywhere there is to be. Once, we got turned around and ended up in Boston, and I got to see all the different places battles had been fought in the Revolutionary War. I even got to stand where my daddy stood when he died. I had some sad and fun times with my boys. But one time in particular stands out to me.

 

Like I said, it was hot, and everyone was irritable, and don’t even get me started on the smell. Can you imagine how much you would stink if you had been left to fester in the sun for weeks on end? When it would get hot and the days were so long, we would get antsy. And what do pirates do when they’re antsy?” James and Ophelia shrugged their shoulders, but Kyle yelled loudly “they pirate!” I nodded, smiling, “That we did. We hit three ships that day, when typically we would only do one or two ships per month. I’d never seen the boys so alive. Nick and his helpers had the canons constantly going, hitting every mark. Liam was practically levitating he was running around so much.  Even though Ed was drunk off his rear end, he was still taking every pirate he dueled with down with ease and finesse. I remember being so happy, and so proud. I was twenty-one, had my own ship and crew, and had made myself a name in the waters. What more could a man want? Now, we had just laid hooks to our fourth ship of the day, and I already had the entirety of their crew tied and searched, but I was missing someone. The other captain. So I decided to take a stroll around the ship and look for him. It wasn’t too large of a ship, how hard could it have been to find him?” 

 

“Was he as good at hide and seek as me?” Ophelia asked, eyes wide as she listened in intently to the tale. “You are so much better. I found him lickety-split. He was in his room, waiting for me. He was really mean, he had eyes so dark they were black and a big gold tooth, and he was a foot taller than me and twice as wide. He looked like he was ready to break me in half. It was one of the most nerve-wracking moments of my life. I didn't know what to do.” “What did you do?” James implored, hanging off of the bunk. “I shot him.” All three grandchildren gasped at once and sat back, James and Kyle looking excited while Ophelia looked scandalized. “Don’t be like that, I was a pirate. It was a part of everyday life.” I paused and pulled up my sleeve, showing off a jagged and crudely healed scar. “This here was from a duel in 1824 in Greece. Winner got a new feather pillow.” “Did you win?” They all asked in unison. “Best sleep of my life. Now, back to the story. 

 

So I shot the Captain, and down he went, like a falling tree. After he was dead, I went through the room, pocketing some of the smaller trinkets and noting what to tell my crew to come and fetch, like a newfangled camera and a  newer plush desk chair. Mine was becoming a bit worn. As I made my way around the room, I kept hearing a faint knocking noise, and a muffled voice. I followed the sound until I found a trunk in the corner of the room, slightly shaking. I knocked once on it, and the voice got louder, as did the knocking. That captain had stuck someone in a trunk!” “One time James locked me in the dryer.” Ophelia said, pointing accusingly at James. “Nu-uh!” Before they could go at each other's throats, I cleared my throat and leveled the two with a glare, then continued on with my story. “It took me a minute to fish the keys from the captains pockets, and I’m glad I have good balance, because the moment that truck opened, someone jumped out like a spitfire, yelling and swinging. Hit me full speed ahead. They were cursing worse than I had ever spoken, and they were aiming to kill me. It took me a good two minutes to get their arms pinned down and get them out of their rage, and that’s when it clicked. It was the most beautiful person I had ever seen.” “Grandma?” Kyle asked. “No, not Grandma.”

 

I fought my smile as I thought of Louis, cerulean eyes wild with fear and rage, hair a mess on his head. He had kept screaming and insulting me until he realized that I wasn't the one who had locked him up. Then he got bashful. Then I fell in love. 

 

“I met them before I ever knew Grandma. They were my first love. After I explained what was happening, they decided to come with me. We left, but not before they got a good kick at the late captain's skull. They were always a feisty one.”  

 

Feisty didn't even begin to cover it. Louis could be the meekest and calm person, but cross him once and you were royally fucked. I made the mistake of teasing him once for his frizzy hair, and he refused to speak to me for a week straight, not even any eye contact. That boy could hold a grudge. 

 

“So they went back aboard The Rose with me. The crew learned quickly not to bother them, or you were liable to lose a limb.” 

 

That incident was hilarious, but not really, since a crewman really did lose a body part. Phillip, a newer rigger of mine, had decided he would disturb Louis as he was reading one day, and then he had to audacity to tease him and poke his nose. He pulled back what was left of the end of his finger. I thought it was one of the funniest things that had ever happened on the deck of my ship, but Louis was mortified once he realized that he had permanently maimed someone over some light-hearted teasing. He must have brushed his teeth fifty times. 

 

“Did they become part of the crew?” Kyle asked, eyes starting to become heavy with sleep. “No, I promised that I would take them back home to France, which wasn’t too far from where we were when we had picked them up. Only four or five weeks travel. While they were with me though, I had the time of my life. They complimented my every flaw and laughed at all of my horrible jokes.” All three kids crinkled their noses and nodded solemnly at the mention of my truly horrid jokes. “They became my best friend, and even more.” 

 

Louis wasn't just more. He was everything. But this was the 1800’s, I would have been hanged, homosexuality was unheard of. Still was. 

 

“When we got to France, it was one of the worst days of my life. I’m not going to lie, I did cry as they walked down the gangplank. With one last wave and a smile, they were gone. I never did see them again.” 

 

I didn't just cry. I screamed. I sobbed. I locked myself in my cabin and drank for three days straight, staring blankly at the spot where Louis had slept. I was an emotional wreck. How could there ever be life when the light of mine had left? Ed had come in after a week and threw open the curtains and poured my stash overboard, got me up and going with a swift kick in the ass. Niall had set course on his own accord, and we were halfway to Tortuga. Life was moving own, despite the fact that I wanted to end mine. But I had my boys. They held me together and kept me functioning, giving me tough love sometimes, including throwing me into the water during one of my meltdowns. The cold water shocked the fight from my system, and I just floated in it for over an hour, staring at the stars and wondering if Louis was doing the same. They shone like his eyes. 

 

“Well, that was depressing,” Ophelia said, halfway asleep, James and Kyle already passed out. “Sorry about that. Was the piracy part of it good though?” “The best. Love you, Grandpa.” “I love you too.” 

 

She sighed and rolled over as I left the room and closed the door with a quiet click, walking into the kitchen where my wife was washing the dishes. “The kids asleep?” She asked as I threw myself down into a barstool. “Just now. Had to tell them a story.” “What did you tell them?” “I told them about when I was a pirate.” My wife snorted and rolled her eyes, drying her hands on a towel. “Whatever you say, Harry, you always were one for telling tall tales. I’ll see you in the bedroom in a minute.” She kissed me on the forehead and left, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I hadn’t spoken about Louis in so long, and never have I told my wife. She doesn't know my history, she only met me once I had given the ship to Ed and found my land legs in a mercantile in Manchester. 

 

I gave one last sigh and heaved myself from the chair, blowing out the lamps for the night. I went to the washroom and changed for bed, but before I turned out the last lamp, I pulled the worn and frayed photo from my wallet, almost white with age, but you couldn't miss that cheesing smile. You could almost see the blue in his eyes and hear his laughter. What better way to make use of the pirated camera than to take a photo of the most beautiful thing in the world? 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Still a sad hoe.


End file.
